While it may be cowboys and cowgirls that you associate most with rodeo, there is a quiet unsung hero behind the scenes keeping all of the animals healthy: the veterinarian. During the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, two vets were responsible for almost 27,000 animals that were there to compete during the three week event. The doctors worked long hours to ensure that all of the animals on the grounds were in good health and well maintained while they were competing in various events from being shown themselves in the livestock show to steer wrestling at the rodeo.

While the crowd cheers the cowboys’ scores, Knape tracks each calf’s progress after release. During team roping, one calf trotted away with a slight limp. But as it neared the exit, the limp disappeared. Knape noted its brand number. He said he’ll examine the calf later for a strain and advise the handlers to give it a week’s rest.

“We watch the animal so you see what happened, if they slipped or they tripped. To see the way they are injured,” Knape said.

“I have as much respect for the animals — if not more — than for the cowboys,” he said.

Next time you are at a rodeo event, be sure and think of all that goes into making sure it runs smoothly…there may be more people to thank than just the cowboys for an entertaining evening.

It’s hard to sum up just how amazing The All American Cowgirl Chicks are. These women not only exhibit excellence, they live and breath it. The Cowgirl Chicks entertain and inspire while being unabashedly patriotic and American. You can’t say that about most folks these days. They seem both Super-Human and Super-American.

The All American Cowgirl Chicks are an equestrian drill team that perform at horse shows, rodeos, and other events across the United States and even in Sweden last year. Their shows center around trick riding but the chicks can sing and dance as well. The team is lead and couched by singer, songwriter, and cowgirl Trish Lynn. The horses the Chicks ride have their own stories as well. They were previously abandoned, turned away, or abused and the Cowgirls have transformed them into trusting companions.

I was a little bummed out that I couldn’t make it to se the Chicks performing performing at Road to the Horse a few weeks ago in Franklin Tennessee. They do about 50 shows a year so there is a good chance I’ll see them live sooner than later. Until then here are some videos of The All American Cowgirl Chicks.

If you are a fan of western decor, then you might want to check out Contemporary Western Design, a collection of all things western curated by Thea Marx. She’s a tried and true ranch girl reared on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming, but that hasn’t stopped her from becoming an expert on things other than cows and horses. Thea is the leading expert on Contemporary Western Design in other words, the new cool stuff, furniture fashion, jewelry, hats, boots those things. For the past 13 years she has lived and breathed western design, twice re-building the Western Design Conference from certain ruin.

Thea has written a book full of poetic instances and beautiful interiors and furniture and now she has a website with hot fashion shoots, incredible home interiors and tons of great artists.  And if you need to know someone or something about the western industry she is a wealth of knowledge.  Want to know what’s the latest thing going? You’ll want to make sure you get on her mailing list.

For some good laughs and serious moments about everyday life check out Soul Ranch.  She is not always so formal!

Ask yourself “Does my western shirt smile?”. Now your probably going to ask “What in the western wear is he talking about?”.

To clear any confusion you have I will now introduce you to The Scallop Yoke Western Shirt with smiling pockets. Yes, you heard me right…smiling pockets!

If you’re looking for something to rock out to the saloon or rodeo then this is the shirt. And when sporting this shirt you are The Man. Like all Cacties apparel, the Scallop Yoke is unlike any western wear out there.

Now you are probably asking “Yea, It’s got smiling pockets. So what else is so great about this shirt?”. Well first off…everything.

• 100% Cotton with a silky feel.
• Spread Collar with removable stays.
• Eight front pearled snaps (Indigo has horn snaps).
• Two barrel snapped cuff.
• And many more details and specifics that set this shirt apart from the competition.

If you are a proud owner of the Scallop Yoke we would love for you to send us some pictures of you wearing the shirt and we just might post them. After all, you are The Man. Careful though. We don’t want to have to crop out all the ladies clinging to you.

We hear all the time that the world hates America. There may be a little truth to that but it doesn’t change the fact that so much of the world wants to be like us and that includes dressing like us.

Since the United States overthrew Saddam Hussein and the Bathists, bringing democracy to Iraq, there has been and explosion in the adoption of western culture and style. From lifting weights in the gym to American label clothing, Iraqis want to share some of the things we have and now have the money to buy them. One rising fashion trend (rasmi: The latest must have fashion accesory in Arabic) for Iraqi males in Baghdad is wearing cowboy boots. From the young guy wearing a t-shirt to the businessman in a suit, cowboy boots are in. In fact, they are all the rage.

Most of the boots are imported from Turkey or other countries, but authentic U.S. made cowboy boots are more desirable even if they cost a pretty penny more than other imported boots.

I wonder if we can get some Iraqis to wear Cacties western wear shirts to complete their cowboy get ups? Let’s hope for that rasmi.

It’s rodeo time in Houston, that two weeks a year where the city is transformed from the fourth largest city in America to the city that hosts the world’s largest rodeo. The best cowboys around come to compete for massive prize money, and folks flock 70,000 or more a night dressed in their best western wear to see the best the rodeo circuit and the world of music have to offer. The Houston Chronicle sheds light on what it is truly like to be traveling around the country competing in rodeos:

It’s a life — one most competitors inherited from fathers and mothers who lived rodeo before them.

Hundreds of days a year, they crisscross the country, packed into sedans or hauling horse trailers. In locker rooms competitors greet each other as friends as they tape hands, wrap knees and ice injured muscles. In barns they engage in the routines of animal care, brushing, feeding and nurturing the horses that will help them strike gold or accompany them as they return home empty-handed.

Then, chaps, gloves or hat on, they enter the stadium to perform for their living.

“You spend hours and hours getting your horse ready and practicing, traveling, driving up and down the road, and you pull in somewhere and in 16 seconds you’re done, and you get to do it all over again,” said Sherry Cervi, a barrel racer from Arizona.

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo runs through March 22 at Reliant Stadium.

Award winners for the 48th annual Western Heritage Awards have been announced by The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in the following categories: film & television, music, and literary. The museum, located in Oklahoma City, is known as America’s Premier Western Heritage Museum, and the awards are open to the public on April 17-18.

The Western Heritage Awards are presented at a black-tie banquet at the Museum, set for April 18, 2009. Each winner in attendance receives the Wrangler, an impressive bronze sculpture of a cowboy on horseback. Awards presented in 2009 are for works completed in 2008. Qualified professionals outside the Museum staff judge all categories.